2. underling, inferior; tool, puppet, instrument, creature, pawn, cat's paw, rubber stamp, doormat, footstool, SI. stooge, dupe, gull, patsy; toady, toadeater, sycophant, fawner, flatterer, truckler, tufthunter, wheedler, puffer, backslapper, backscratcher, time-server, Inf. apple-polisher, SI. brown-nose, SI. brown-noser, SI. brownie, Obs., Rare, blander, Archaic. pickthank; parasite, leech, Inf sponge or sponger, hanger-on; yes-man, jackal, spaniel, bootlick, bootlicker, footlicker, lickspit, lickspittle, kowtower, Uncle Tom, SI. oreo; cringer, groveler, sniveler.
lacking, prep. 1. without, wanting, in want of, sans; destitute of, short of; for want of. -adj. 2. deficient, needing, missing, shy; imperfect, defective, flawed, impaired, incomplete, unfinished; inadequate, insufficient, unsatisfactory, mediocre, inferior, unsuitable, incommensurate, incapable, incompetent, not up to par, not up to snuff, unable to measure up, unequal to, unqualified.
lackluster, adj. 1. tasteless, bland, insipid, jejune, flat, dull, vapid, SI. nothing, SI. blah; uneventful, humdrum, monotonous, ordinary, run-of-the-mill, commonplace, prosaic, matter-of-fact; tedious, tiresome, boring, boresome, wearisome, uninteresting, SI. dead, dry, dry-as-dust.
2. dingy, dark, dim, dun, dusky; drab, dismal, dreary, cheerless; colorless, tarnished, faded, washed-out; deadened, dulled, muted, muffled; shadowy, gloomy, tenebrous, obscure; murky, hazy; smutchy, dirty, grimy, soiled, muddy; shabby, seedy, worn, run-down, sloppy, crummy.
3. unresponsive, passionless, indifferent, uncaring; sluggish, phlegmatic, lethargic, torpid, heavy, lifeless; languid, listless, spiritless, apathetic; inactive, inert, stagnant; lazy, oscitant, drowsy.
4. unimaginative, undiscerning, unintelligent, witless, slow-witted, dull-witted; dense, thick-headed, Inf. thick, slow, stupid; backward, doltish, simple; empty-headed, vacuous.
laconic, adj. concise, brief, terse, succinct; summary, short, short and sweet, neat; pithy, to the point, pointed, blunt, crisp; elliptical, economical; incisive, trenchant, keen, sharp, biting; unloquacious, untalka-tive, of few words, ungarrulous; silent, quiet, unspeaking, mum, close-mouthed, mute; reticent, reserved, secretive, taciturn, uncommunicative.
laconism, n. 1. conciseness, brevity, terseness, succinctness, brachylogy; shortness, pithiness, pointedness, incisiveness; silence, taciturnity, reticence.
2. aphorism, gnome, apothegm, maxim, motto, catch phrase; mot, witticism, quip, epigram; saw, saying.
lacquer, n. 1. Chinese lacquer, varnish, japan, shellac; enamel, glaze, coating, finish, veneer; lac, resin, rosin, colophony, oleoresin. -v. 2. lacker, japan, varnish, shellac; enamel, glaze, luster; coat, cover, veneer, paint, finish.
3. gloss, gloze, smooth; explain away, excuse; extenuate, soften, palliate, mitigate; color, whitewash.
lacuna, n. gap, hiatus, opening, hole, cavity, gulf, Prosody, caesura, omission; break, rift, crack, fissure; space, interstice, interval, interspace, interruption, intermission, interim,
lacy, adj. lacelike, filigree, filigreed, tatted, crocheted; meshy, meshed, netlike, webby, weblike, cobwebby, open; delicate, fine, sheer, thin, light, lightweight, gossamer, gossamery, gauzy, gauzelike; diaphanous, transparent, translucent, see-through,
lad, n. 1. boy, youth, young man, Irish Eng. gossoon, Fr. gargon, Scot. laddie, Inf. laddo; young fellow, son, Inf. sonny, Inf. sonnyboy, Inf. tad, master, Inf. shaver, Inf. little shaver; hobbledehoy, schoolboy, stripling; urchin, street urchin, gamin; cub, whelp, pup, puppy; young one, Dial, young'un, youngster, Inf. kid, Inf. sprout, Inf. young sprout, Inf. sprig; whippersnapper, brat; chip off the old block, junior.